Adjustable bracket for venetian blinds



DeC- 17, 1940- E. H. CARROLL ADJUSTABLE BRACKET FOR VENETIAN BLINDS Filed June 14, 1940 Patented Dec. 17, 19440 UNITED STATES ADJUSTABLE BRACKET Foa VENETIAN BLINDS Elbert H. Carroll, West Boylston, Mass. f Application June 14, 1940, serial No. 340,497

1s Claims. (o1. 15e- 17) improved construction for more securely holding,

the head and facia; the provision of adjustable means on such a bracket for the more exact and rmer holding of different sizes of heads; the provision of a Venetian blind bracket having ad justable locating and holding means for the head and a separate but cooperating adjustable holding means for the facia, which securely holds the same in desired position regardless of the size of head; and the provision of head and facia holding means which are adjustable to take advantage of the size of the head, so that the facia may be positioned closer to the Wall or window when a small head is used, whereby the facia does not project as far into the room as is the case with prior art brackets. n

Other objects and advantages of the invention will appear hereinafter.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawing, in which Fig. 1 is a plan view of a bracket embodying the present invention, showing the location of head and facia, and mounted in a window corner;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the bracket of Fig. 1, shown alone;

Fig. 3 is a section on line 3-3 of Fig. 1, and showing an extended locationof the facia support in dotted lines;

Fig. 4 is a view of the head and facia, parts being broken away, looking in the direction of arrow 4 in Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a side elevation of the bracket, showing the facia support and header lock in open position;

Fig. 6 is a section on line 8-6 of Fig. 5; and

Fig. 'l is a broken away top View of the facia support steadying means, looking in the direction of arrow 1 in Fig. 5.

Referring in detail to the drawing, numeral It) indicates a corner portion of a window jamb to which the bracket embodying the present invention may be secured as by screws I2. Of course, the bracket may be secured to the front of a jamb or to a walLif desired, and does not have to be secured in a corner, but may project out into the room. In the latter case, especially, it becomes desirable to conserve spaceand the present bracket is an aid in this direction as will be explained below.

The main body of the bracket consists of a wide plate I4 having an end flange I6 at right angles thereto, and a small indentation I8 at the opposite end. This indentation gives a finished appearance to the exposed end edge of plate I4. A shelf 20 is riveted or otherwise secured to the 5 end flange I6 at 22 and to the plate I4 at 24 on flange 25 so that this shelf firmly contacts the-plate I4 along one side, except at the cutaway forward portion 26. The flange 25 has a portion 28 extending upwardly therefrom and bent out away from the plate I4 as at 21 so as to provide a guideway 32 between the portion 28 and the plate I4. The upwardly extending portion 28 is provided with a horizontal stop 34 at its top, and along its forward edge it is provided with a cut-away portion 36 and a downwardly extending finger 38 therein, which finger is bent so as to extend to and firmly contact the plate I4, as shown in Figs. 5 and 6.

A slidable latch 40 having a lateral ange 42 at its forward end is arranged to be slidably guided in the guideway 32. This latch is provided with a central opening 44 shaped to form locking indentations 46 in the upper margin of the opening. The opening 44 thus provides a lower margin 48 and an upper margin 50, and it will be seen that the parts are so arranged that the finger 38 is located in the opening 44 and that the latch 40 may be adjusted backwards and forwards so that the finger 38 can fit into either indentation 46, thus locking the latch 48 in forward position, or in rearward position, as shown in Fig. 3. Also, the latch 40 may be pulled so far forwardly as to be over-balanced and this flange 42 will pivot down about 38 as a center, and be removed from a position wherein it interferes with insertion of the header, see Fig. 5.

'Ihe shelf 2Ilis provided at its forward end with a down-turned fiange 52 into which the cut-away portion A28 extends, as shown in Fig. 6, leaving a short finger on the ange 52 which is arranged to firmly abut the plate I4. Cut-away portion 26 forms a guideway in which rides the upper arm 54 of a slotted bracket 56. 'I'his arm 54 is provided with an outwardly bent portion 58 so that when the bent portion is positioned in the cutaway `guideway 26, it will be spring pressed against the side of the cut-away portion 25 while the remainder of the bracket 5G bears against the plate I4 to thus frictionally steady the bracket inany horizontal adjusted position. However, it will be noted, as shown in Fig. 5, that the bracket 58 can be pulled so far forwardly that the bent portion 58 no longer is contained within the guideway 26, and thus the bracket 56 may be swung down about the flange 52.

The slot 60 in bracket 56 provides a stop at its rear end for the forward motion of the bracket. An abutment 64 provides a stop abutting against shelf 20 when bracket 56 is positioned with the bent spring portion 58 engaged in guideway 26 so that the bracket 56 cannot be pivoted down at any time when the bent portion is in engagement with the flange 52. This-abutment insures that there will be no rocking action between the top of arm 54 and the bottom of shelf v2l), since the abutment is at the rear end of the bracket 56 and it alone of any part of the bracket engages the shelf, except when the bracket is pivoted down, as shown in Fig. ,5, when the inclined end 66 of the bracket acts as a stop against shelf 20, limiting the downward pivoting movement of bracket 56.

At its forward end, bracket 56 is provided with the facia support 68 which comprises a forward flange 'l0 which -may .be shaped as shown in Figs. 3 and 5, to .accommodate the facia 12, and complementing the flange are -opposed flanges .74, 14 which, together with .the flange 10, serve to hold the facia in position. It will be seen in Fig. 5 vthat flange 14 may be provided with an indentation to resiliently hold a facia of any shape, and a bottom shelf 15 may be provided against any possible dropping .out of the facia. i YIn Figs. 1 and 3, there is disclosed a head 'l5 which is of a width conresponding to the smallest head commonly used. It is understood that in every installation of Venetian blinds, there must l be a right and left hand bracket to support both ends of the head and the facia. Only the right hand bracket is illustrated in the drawing, but naturally there would be another like bracket with its par-ts reversed to Isupport the ends of the head andthe facia not shown.

I'fil-ie bracket assembly is applied to its support by the screws I2 wherever it is desired to `put up a VVenetian blind. The bracket 56 is pulled forward until vthe lspring portion 58 disengages from the flange 52 and is swung dow-n to approximately the position shown in Fig. 5. The head 16 is then yplaced on the shelf 29 and if the head is lthe small size, as `shown in `Figs. l and 2, the latch ill) is` raised and pushed back in the guide 32 until the finger 33 ilts into the forward in dentation 46 in the position illustrated in Fig. 3. The parts are so arranged that the latch will now hold the forward face of -the header, the top Yof the header being held down by the flange 34 and the rear face being engaged by the flange t6 `or rivet 22. It will be noted that the opening 4A in the latch 40 extends rearwardly beyond `the indentations 46 so that this latch may be pulled forward and swung down about finger '558 to a position wherein its forward flange 62 is down and out of the way of the space between shelf 20 and flange 34 so that the header may be slid in and out ydirectly forwardly.

When the header is in place, as above described, the facia 'l2 may be slid into its support 58 and the bracket 56 is then pivoted upwards and slid rearwardly until the facia is in desired position, as is shown in solid lines in Fig. 3. In this position, the flange IU is substantially alined with the end of the indentation I3 and it is seen therefore that the facia does not project from the bracket and thus this Venetian blind bracket is as .compact as possible.

If a Wider header is to lbe used, the latch 49 is manipulated to bring linger 33 into the rear indentation 46 which is spaced so that the flange 42 will then just form a forward barrier for the wide header. The bracket 56 is manipulated as above described, but in the case of a wide header, the flange t2 acts as a stop against the flange lil yand thus again it is seen that the facia extends as little as possible into the room, while still performing its function equally well either with Wide or narrow sized heads.

Having thus described my invention and 4the advantages thereof, I do not wish to be limited to the details herein disclosed, otherwise than as set forth in the claims, but what I claim is:

l. In an article of manufacture, the combination with adjustable means to retain a head element of a Venetian blind or the like in desired position; of bodily adjustable means to support a facia board in close proximity Ito said head elenient, regardless of the width of the latter.

2. In a bracket of the class described, the combnation vof a Venetian blind head support having means to adj-ustabl-y retain various; sizes of heads to be supported; with a facia support adj-ustably mounted on the bracket to .correspondingly hold the facia in closely adjusted `reiaision to `vsaid means.

3. In a rbraclet of the class described, the cambination of a head supporting shelf, adjustable means to abut the front surface yof a head to retain the .same in position on y.Said shelf; with means adapted to 4support a facia in close proximity to said front surface regardless .of the latters position, said last-mentioned means com- -prising a bodily slidable element.

4. As an article of manufacture, a bracket for Venetian blinds or the like and mounting a support, said vsupport lbeing adjustably slidably arranged in said bracket for laccommodating various widths of headers, means to hold said support in various adjusted positions, and means' providing a pivotal movement of said support whereby it may be moved out of 'the Yway of a header.

5. As an article of manufacture, a supporting bracket for Venetian blinds or the like and adapta ed to `be secured to a wall or similar support, means for ysupporting a member Ion said bracket, and means associated with said supporting means for forming an adjustable abutment for accommodating various widths of members to ,be supported, whereby the members are 4always located close to the wall.

6. `As `an article of manufacture, a bracket for ,the purpose described, supporting means on said bracket, anv abutment movably arranged on said bracket to kret-ain a head to be supported, and means latching said abutment in selective positions for retaining heads of various widths, whereby corresponding `sides vof said heads are always located in substantially the same .position.

7. As an article of manufacture, a bracket having a suporting shelf, an abutment adapted to form al retaining member for an element .to be supported on said shelf, said abutment being slidingly adjustable to accommodate various widths of elements, a guideway for said abutment, l

and means in said g-,udeway to latch said abutment in various degrees of adjustment.

8. As ,an article 0f manufacture, a bracket for supporting a Venetian blind Y0r the like, and adapted to be secured toa wall or similar support, means to mount the header ,of the blind, and adjustable means on said bracket movable to and from the wall location to accomodate heads of various Widths.

9. As an article of manufacture, a support for a header of a Venetian blind, means adjustably mounted to secure various udths of headers in desired position, said means being pivotally mounted whereby it may swing down out of the way of a header.

10. As an articl-e of manufacture, a bracket for a Venetian blind, a facia board support, means mounting said support for horizontally bodily sliding movement with respect to said bracket, and means to hold said support in any desired position of its sliding adjustment.

11. As an article of manufacture, a bracket for a Venetian blind, a facia board support, means slidingly adjustably mounting said support on said bracket, means to hold said support in any position of its sliding adjustment, and means pivotally mounting said support adjacent one end of the means slidingly mounting the same.

12. As an article of manufacture, a bracket for a Venetian blind, a head support, a facia support slidably and pivotally mounted on said bracket, means on said facia support cooperating with said head support to prevent pivoting of the former in its sliding range.

13. VIn an article of manufacture, the combination of a bracket having a shelf, a guideway associated therewith, means slidably arranged in said guideway, and means to latch said first-mentioned means in selected positions of adjustment;

with a support slidably arranged on said bracket,

and means to hold said support in selected posin tions of slidable adjustment of the same, whereby an element carried by said support may be 1ocated and held as close as possible to an element carried by said shelf and latched in place by said rst mentioned means.

14. As an article of manufacture, a bracket for supporting a Venetian blind, means on the bracket to support a head, and bodily slidable means to support a facia, said head supporting means being adapted to receive heads of Varying widths, and said facia supporting means being adapted to hold the facia of close proximity to the head regardless of the Width of the latter.

15. As an article of manufacture, a bracket for supporting a Venetian blind, means on the bracket for mounting the head of the blind, and horizontally slidable means locking the head in place by engagement of one edge thereof, said locking means being constructed and arranged to accommodate said head in rearwardmost position with respect to the bracket, regardless of the width of the head.

16. As an article of manufacture, a bracket, means to support the head of a Venetian blind on said bracket, sliding means to support a facia board, said head support having means to hold heads of various widths so that corresponding sides of said heads always will be located in the same position, and said facia board support having slidable means whereby it may be adjusted closely to the opposite sides of said heads, regardless of the positions thereof.

17. As an article of manufacture, a bracket for a Venetian blind, a support on the bracket for the head of the blind, a sliding latch on said bracket to accommodate heads of various widths, said latch being provided with a series of indentations, and a nger on said support for the reception of anyone of said indentations, whereby said latch may be adjusted to hold any sized head in place.

18. As an article of manufacture, a support for a header of a Venetian blind or the like, means adjustably mounted to secure various Widths of headers, means pivotally mounting said rstmentioned means, and comprising a slot, said slot having a plurality of indentations adjacent one end thereof, and means in said slot whereby any or none of said indentations may be engaged thereby.

ELBERT H. CARROLL. 

